THE NEW FEMINIST

P.O; Box 597, Station “A”, Toronto 116, Ontario, Canada. Office: 67 Huntley Street, Toronto

Vol. 1 No. 8 OCT 1970 ON THE EDGE POEM —- ON THE You're cold, he says, accusing her EDGE of the crime the priests committed BOOK REVIEWS for they baptized her in icy water SCHIZOPHRENIA IN and let her to freeze on the edge of a precipice A naked female babe without a name THE MEDIA who must appease the powerful gods ARGUING FEMINISM that control the fate of the tribe WITH A MAN while the wolves prowl at the edge of the firelight OBSCENITIES - A Her magic powers ere made of myths WEAPON OF handed down to each new generation VIOLENCE from patriarchal father to the son GRAFFITTI in the secret chambers on the edge of the family THE MYTH OF THE hearth With many smiles, they take her in VAGINAL ORGASM and crown her with a floral wreath NEW FEMINISTS - then. Lead her to the temple priest COMMUNICATIONS tor her ritual wedding to the edge of another life Her maiden name isn't hers to keep but changes with her nuptial state Sinking with her in the double bed hidden behind curtains on the edge of human history Magazine Committee You're cold, he says, accusing her of the crime committed against her Aline, Iris, Janet, Joan Judy and Susan and looks for naked nameless babes while she stays frozen on the edge of a precipice Joan Lawler

All rights reserved. Written permission for reprint must be received from tha authors. SEXUAL POLITICS by KATE MILLETT

WHAT goes on largely unexamined, often even unacknowledged in our present social order is the birthright priority whereby males rule females. Through this system a most ingenious form of ‘interior colonization' has been achieved. It is one which tends to be sturdier than any form of segregation, more rigorous than class stratification, more uniform, certainly more enduring. However muted its present appearance may be, sexual dominion obtains, nevertheless, as perhaps the most pervasive ideology of our culture and provides its most fundamental concept of power. ‘THIS is so because our society, like all other historical civilizations, is a patriarchy. The fact is evident at once if one recalls that the military, industry, technology, universities, science, political office, and finance, in short every avenue of power within the society, including the coercive force o£ the police, is entirely in male hands. As the essence of politics is power, such realization cannot fail to carry impact. What lingers of supernatural authority, the Deity, 'His' ministry, together with the ethics and values, the philosophy and art of our culture—its very civilization— as T.S. Eliot once observed, is of male manufacture." Kate Millett Publisher: Doubleday & Company, Inc.. Price: $9.50...also available at libraries.

SISTERHOOD JTS POWERFUL Edited by ROBIN MORGAN “…THE Women's Liberation Movement has begun with increasing boldness to question traditional assumptions about women and to attack the inequities of a male-dominated society. HERE is the first comprehensive collection of writings from the Women's Liberation Movement , including articles, poems, photographs and manifestos. This anthology captures the range of problems being considered by the new feminists, and the variety of approaches to analysis and action…” (lifted from the dust-jacket). Publisher: Random House, New York Available in hardcover & paperback

The New Feminist/Oct.70. SCHIZOPHRENIA IN THE MEDIA = by Joan Lawlor Before summer you could see at a glance just where TV stood on the issue or women's Liberation: way, way over on the other side. (With a very few exceptions.) But this fall the TV industry appears to be in.an interesting state of schizophrenia. It seems, in fact, to have developed a kind of Jekyll and Hyde personality, treating women's liberation with serious and relatively enlightened concern during the daylight hours, but reverting to mocking and rather nasty little practices as soon as twilight falls. Looking through the programs for the past three weeks of the new fall season - September 25 to October 17 - I counted approximately eleven programs dealing ,specifically with feminism (not including related topics such as abortion)…Seven of these were daytime programs, all of which treated the subject seriously (and all of which appeared on CBC). The other four programs appeared in the evening, and three of them ridiculed or exploited the movement. So, during the afternoon, women are being given what amounts to an elementary education in the historic oppression of their sex; and in the evening they are invited to have a belly-laugh about it with hubby and the kids. That's the kind of situation that could produce some very schizophrenic housewives - and a whole new crop of women's liberationists. There is a natural temptation to over-estimate these CBC daytime shows simply out of sheer gratitude that anything is being done at all. And although recognition must be given to the CBC for presenting them, it should be noted that the content of these programs hardly constitutes a call to revolution and that most of the "hostesses" appear to be leaning over backwards in their efforts to maintain their "femininity" and impartiality. (That's quite a feat - talking about your own oppression with a big impartial smile on your face. Try it some time.) Nevertheless, a mental metamorphosis appears to have taken place amongst a number of women in the media, coincidental with the publication of Kate Millett's Sexual Politics. Suddenly, feminism has become intellectually respectable. This change of attitude does not seem to have penetrated radio-territory to the same extent. One obvious reason is Bruno Gerussi, who dominates a large chunk of CBL’s morning program. He also happens to be a chivalrous chauvinist, in the David Frost mould. Both of these “gentlemen" share what is apparently a sex-linked inability to articulate the word “woman", always using instead the genteel euphimism, “lady”. In each case, there seems to be more than good old-fashioned courtesy involved, and I suspect that this verbal blockage is psychological in origin. Could it be that they were each dominated by repressed house-bound mothers? In any case, the fact is that feminist issues in Gerussi's programs are confined to witty ditties-and hostile little homilies - both anti-feminist and anti-female. Elsehwere on CBL the situation is brighter, thanks largely to Helen Hutchinson on the Late morning and early afternoon shows. She frequently introduces relevant issues, such as abortion - even urging listeners to demand changes in the law.

The New Feminist/Oct .70. Page 3 The rest of radio is a desert, peopled as we know, almost exclusively by the male or the species.... the one exception being CHIC, “where the girls are". Enough said. Let's take a brief look at some recent TV gare.

DAYTIME: documentaries and ‘interviews WOMEN NOW: CBC Ch. 6. Life Style, Wednesdays, 2.30p.m., 13-part series The first program consisted. of a collection of mysogynistic opinions from some of the most eminent gurus (male) of western culture and religion, from St. Paul to Spiro Agnew. The second program dealt with the suffragette movement in Canada and England. Watch’. out: for further. programs in this series. They're presented by Helen Hutchinison ‘and are well worth watching. New Feminists themselves will .appear on the last program of the series, unless there is a change in programming.

WOMEN ON THE MARCH, Parts 1 & 2: CBC Ch. 6, October 1 and 8, 2 p.m. The stand-by documentary on women's rights gets another two airings.

TAKE THIRTY: CBC, Ch. 6, Monday to Friday, 3 p.m. Adrienne Clarkson interviewed Kate Millett on Monday, October 5, Kate gets the nod of approval from Adrienne. First, there's the intellectual respectability bit, the brilliant book which makes Kate O.K. And then Kate's happily married, which means she must be “normal" and "balanced". Kate put on a very good performance, though I feel she was down-playing things a little. Toronto Women's Liberation had a session on October 6, which I didn't get to see EVENING: situation comedies & series Many of the situation comedies and regular series are making hay while the sun shines. (Wait till it burns!) Doris Day, uncannily true to stereotype, led the way somewhere during that 3-week period, Strange how the TV boys (& the advertising boys & the press boys) persist in their gross distortions of feminists. We are all 60 years old, sexually repressed, and wear tweed suits. It must be comforting for frightened Little boys to dream up wicked old witches whom they can destroy without a qualm.. Sweet dreams, boys, But watch out that. Women's Lib doesn't get your fairy princess. Laugh-In looked at Women's Lib. on Friday, September 25. Rowan and Martin took it pretty easy in typical liberal tradition - after all, some of their best friends are women. Maybe you looked in at Room 222 on Channel 3, Tuesday, October 13, at 8.30 p.m. With a spiel like this in the Star TV Guide, who could resist it? Episode title: Adam's Lib. (Sounds Like a repeat program!) "When Women's Lib. invades Walt Whitman high school, a talented girl tries out for the Varsity basketball team." Did she make it? I wouldn't know. I was at a karate class at the time......

The New Feminist/Oct.70. OO "Page y Obscenities - A Weapon of Violence

Bastard or Son-of-a-bitch, the most common invectives a male spews do not degrade the male, but are a degradation to the female. Swearing is "“unLadylike" or unfeminine. But obscenities are also a useful weapon, a ‘tactical maneuver, a skillful plan to dispose of the enemy; either a replacement for the battle or a means of attack. Swearing becomes a political action, however, when used against women. One class dominates the subordinate class, transforming an acceptable method of badinage or threats, depending on the tone used, into a political weapon of violence. Women's identity is defined as sexual ; a fulfillment of sexuality through motherhood and/or service to the male. Verbal assault, when directed at the female destroys ‘the sense of ‘self. Loss of identity occurs when the Female, internalizing the "feminine" concept, reacts with shock and contusion, creating a nonentity - unable to defend or counter-attack. The preconceived identity of wife, lady or mother, is quickly destroyed by bitch, slut or wore. This tactical onslaught screws up thinking and castrates identity. Not permitted such verbal "cock- display", a powerless non-identifiable being remains. The only recourse is a passive political weapon - tears, the female's ultimate means of defence, silently wondering what the hell happened. As a weapon of violence, swearing is most effective when used as an act of aggression. Males recognize (perhaps subconsciously) the value of swearing and deem it - for males only. Since females rarely initiate aggressive action, measures of defence and counter- attack should be learned. By the constant use of obscenities in the female's vocabulary shock value is nullified and leaves the head clear for counter attack. Bitch, slut or whore can be countered with ass-hole, fucking pig and eat shit. (The scarcity of crudities applicable to males verifies that swearing was invented by them for use against females). Swearing then, as a measure indicates a rejection of the assigned |female identity (passivity-‘surrender) and obscures the masculine identity (aggression-conquer) forcing the confrontation to take a different direction. Swearing skills, with practice, will provide confidence and a frontal attack may now be considered. A lesser form of non-physical aggression is the wink, leer or ogle - visual weapons of violence used exclusively by males. Verbal assault, however, supplants visual assault and a lascivious leer y some pick must be counted with a our, “get you fucking eyes back where they belong”. It works every time. Have you said fuck-off today? Try it!

A group effort - the Magazine Committee Graffitti...... Balls are for kicking around Catch 22 is a rotten, stinking, sexist, male chauvinist reality/ fantasy It is you babe..

Page 5 The New Feminist/Oct./70. ARGUING FEMINISM WITH A MAN i. by Sherrill Cheda

If you have ever found yourself in the position of arguing feminism with a man, you have also found that their responses fall roughly into the following categories. Let us look for a moment at these responses and how best to combat them. Man: Women are inferior, they have no strength! Feminist: “A fast karate kick speaks louder than words. Man: You're right, women are superior to men. (sarcastically) Feminist; Now you're catching on! (more sarcastically) Man: There are few famous women because they aren't as smart as men. Feminist: Women were cooking, sewing and cleaning while men were fucking around starting wars. If men had to look after themselves they wouldn't have time to be creative. Man: Are you a lesbian? Feminist: If you're the alternative - it's worth considering. Man: I don't believe you. Feminist: ' Statements which negate you and your experience are the male form of argument for as he negates your credibility, he wins. The only thing you can do is point out this negating move to him.

Man: Women don’t want to work, life at home is easy. Think of the poor mate: labourer - his work is boring and repetitive. Feminist:' Most women work at an outside job and then work at home as an unpaid domestic. What kind of choice do women have? Poorly paid outside - or no pay at home. Man: You' are over-reacting, what you need is a good screw. Feminist:Kick him in the balls and say, "Now let's see you over-react,"

Finally, it needs to be said that to argue feminism with a man is like arguing freedom with a slaveholder. Concentrate on forming the revolution with women - and don't waste your energy on a man.

Graffitti....The latest cars have penis support - buy a prickmobile'! It i can't be God - I won't play. Restitution not prostitution

The New Feminist/Oct.70. Page 6 Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm

Whenever female orgasm and frigidity is discussed, a false distinction is made between the vaginal and the clitoral orgasm. Frigidity has generally been defined by men as the failure of women to have vaginal orgasms. Actually the vagina is not a highly sensitive area and is not constructed to achieve orgasm. lt is the clitoris which is the center of sexual sensitivity and which is the female equivalent of the penls. I think this explains a great many things: First of all, the fact that the so-called frigidity rate among women is phenomenally high. Rather than tracing female frigidity to the false assumptions about female anatomy, our "experts’ have declared frigidity a psychological problem of women. Those women who complained about it were recommended psychiatrists, so that they might discover their problem'- diagnosed generally as a failure to adjust to their role as women. The facts of female anatomy and sexual response tell a different story. There is only one area for sexual climax, although there are many areas for sexual arousal, that area is the clitoris. All orgasms are extensions of sensation from this area. Since the clitoris is not necessarily stimulated sufficiently in the conventional sexual positions, we are left “frigid”. Aside from physical stimulation, which is the common cause of orgasm f0r most people, there is also stimulation through primarily mental processes. Some women, for example, may achieve orgasm through sexual fantasies, or through fetishes. However, while the stimulation may he psychological, the orgasm’'manifests itself physically. Thus, while the Cause is psychological, the effect is still physical, and the orgasm necessarily takes place in the sexual organ equipped for sexual climax, the clitoris. The orgasm experience may also differ in degree of intensity - some more localized, and some more diffuse and sensitive. But they are all clitoral orgasms. All this leads to some interesting questions about conventional sex and our role in it. Men have orgasms essentially by friction with the vagina, not the clitoral area, which is external and not able to cause friction the way penetration does. Women have thus been defined sexually in terms of what pleases men; our own biology has not been properly analyzed. Instead, we are fed the myth of the liberated women and her vaginal orgasm - an orgasm which in fact does not exist. What we must do is redefine our sexuality. We must discard the ‘normal’ concepts of sex and create new guidelines which take into account mutual sexual enjoyment. While the idea of mutual enjoyment is liberally applauded in marriage manuals, it is not followed to its

The New Feminist/Oct./70O. : «© “Page 7 Logical conclusion. We must begin to demand that if certain sexual positions now defined as “standard are not mutually conducive to orgasm, they no longer be defined as standard. New techniques must be used or devised which transform this particular aspect of our current sexual exploitation. Freud - A Father of the Vaginal Orgasm Freud contended that the clitoral orgasm was adolescent, and that upon puberty, when women began having intercourse with men, women should transfer the center of orgasm to the vagina. The vagina, it was assumed, was able to produce a parallel, but more mature, orgasm than the clitoris. Much work was done to elaborate on this theory, but little was done to challenge the basic assumptions, To fully appreciate this incredible invention, perhaps Freud's general attitude about women should first be recalled. Mary Ellman, in ‘Thinking About Women! summed it up this way: Everything in Freud's patronizing and fearful attitude toward women follows from their lack of a penis, but it is only in his essay 'The Psychology of Women’ that Freud makes explicit... the deprecations of women which are implicit in his work. He then prescribes for them the abandonment of the life of the mind, which will interfere with their sexual function. When the psychoanalyzed patient is male, the analyst sets himself the task of developing the man's capacities; but with women patients, the job is to resign them to the limits of their sexuality. As Mr Rieff puts it: For Freud, "Analysis cannot encourage in women new energies for success and achievement, but only teach them the Lesson of rational resignation". It was Freud’s feelings about women's secondary and interior relationship to men that formed the basis for his theories on female sexuality. Once having laid down the law about the nature of our sexuality, Freud not so strangely discovered a tremendous problem of frigidity in women. His recommended cure for a woman who was frigid was psychiatric care. She was suffering from failure to mentally adjust to her “natural role as a woman. Frank S. Caprio, a contemporary follower of these ideas, states: “..-whenever a woman is incapable of achieving an orgasm via coitus, provided her husband is an adequate partner, and prefers clitoral stimulation to any other form of sexual activity, she can be regarded as suffering from frigidity and requires psychiatric assistance. (The Sexually Adequate Female, p.64.). The explanation given was that women were envious of men ‘renunciation

The New Feminist/Oct. 70 of womanhood". Thus it was diagnosed as an anti-male phenomenon. It is important to emphasize that Freud did not base his theory upon a study of woman's anatomy, but rather upon his assumptions or woman as an inferior appendage to man, and her consequent social and psychological role. In their attempts to deal with the ensuing problem or mass frigidity, Freudians created elaborate mental gymnastics. Marie Bonaparte, in "Female Sexuality’, goes so far as to suggest surgery to help women back on their rightful path. Having discovered a strange between the non-frigid woman and the location of the clitoris near the vagina, “it then: occurred to me that where, in certain women, this gap was excessive, and clitoridal fixation obdurate, a clitoridal-vaginal reconciliation might be effected by surgical means, which would then benefit the normal erotic function. Professor Halban, of Vienna, as much a biologist as surgeon, became interested in the problem and worked out a simple operative technique. In this, the suspensory ligament of the clitoris was severed and the clitoris secured to the underlying structures, thus fixing it in a lower position, with eventual reduction of the labia minora. (p.L4S.)

But the severest damage was not in the area of surgery, where Freudians nan around absurdly trying ‘to change female anatomy to fit their basic assumptions. The worst damage was done to the mental health of women , who either suffered silently with self-blame, or flocked to the psychiatrists looking desperately for the hidden and terrible repression that kept from them their vaginal destiny.

Lack of Evidence ? One may perhaps at first claim that these are unknown and unexplored areas. but upon closer examination this is certainly not true today, nor was it true even in the past. For example, men have known that women suffered from frigidity often during intercourse so the problem was there. Also, there is much specific evidence. Men knew that the clitoris was and is the essential organ for masturbation, whether in children or adult women. so obviously women made it clear where they thought their sexuality was located. Men also seem suspiciously aware of the clitoral powers during “foreplay”, when they want to arouse women and produce the necessary lubrication for penetration. Foreplay is a concept created for male’ purposes but works to the disadvantage. of many women, since as soon as the woman is aroused the man changes to vaginal stimulation, leaving her both aroused and unsatisfied. It has also ‘been known that women need no anesthesia inside the vagina during surgery, thus pointing to the fact that the vagina is in fact not a highly sensitive area.

Page 9 The New Feminist/Oct.70. Today, with extensive knowledge of anatomy, with Kinsey, and Masters and Johnson, to mention just a few sources, there is no ignorance on the subject. There are, however, social reasons why this knowledge has not been popularized. We are Living in a male society which has not sought change in women's role.

Anatomical Evidence Rather than.starting with what women ought to feel, it would seem logical to start out with the anatomical facts regarding the clitoris and vagina. The Clitoris is a small equivalent of the penis, except for the fact that the urethra does not go through it as in the man's penis. Its erection is similar to the male erection, and the head of the clitoris has the same type of structure and function as the head of the penis. G. Lombard Kelly, in “Sexual Feeling in Married Men and Women", says: “The head of the clitoris is also composed of erectile. tissue, and it possesses a very sensitive epithelium or surface covering, supplied with special nerve endings called genital corpuscles, which are peculiarly adapted for sensory stimulation that under proper mental conditions terminates in the sexual orgasm. No other part of the female generative tract has such corpuscles. (Pocketbooks;:p.35.)

The clitoris has no other function than that of sexual pleasure. The Vagina - Its functions are related to the reproductive function. Principally, (1) menstruation, (2) receive penis, (3) hold semen, and (4) birth passage. Tne interior of the vagina, which according to the defenders of the vaginally caused orgasm is “the center and producer of the orgasm, is like nearly all other internal body structures, poorly supplied with end organs of touch. The internal entodermal origin of the lining or the vagina makes it similar in this respect to the rectum and other parts or the digestive tract. (Kinsey, ‘Sexual Behavior jn tte numan Female", p. 580.). The degree of insensitivity inside the vagina is to high that “Among the women who were tested in our gynecologic sample, less than 14% were at all conscious that they had been touched." (Kinsey, p. 580.) Even the importance cr the vagina as an erotic center (as opposed to an orgasmic center) has been found to be minor. Other Areas - Labia minora and the vestibule of the vagina. There two sensitive areas may trigger off a clitoral orgasm. Because they can be

The New Feminist/Oct.70. Page 10 effectively stimulated during "normal coitus, though infrequent;. this kind of stimulation is incorrectly thought to be vaginal orgasm. However, it is important to distinguish between areas which can stimulate the clitoris, incapable of producing the orgasm themselves, and ‘the clitoris: “Regardless of.what means of excitation is used to bring the individual to.the state of sexual climax, the sensation is by the genital corpuscles and is localized where they are situated: in the head of the clitoris or penis, (Kelly, p.°49.)

‘Psychologically Stimulated Orgasm - Aside from the above mentioned direct. and indirect stimulations of the clitoris, there is a third way an orgasm may be triggered, This is through mental (cortical) stimulation, ‘Where the imagination stimulates the brain, which in turn stimulates:the genital corpuscles of the glans to set off an orgasm.

Women Who Say They Have Vaginal Orgasms Confusion - Because, of the lack of knowledge of their own anatomy, some women accept the idea that an orgasm felt during "normal" intercourse was vaginally caused. This confusion is caused by a combination of two factors. One, failing to locate the center of the orgasm, and two,. by a desire to fit her experience to the male- defined idea of sexual normalcy. Considering that women know little about their anatomy, it is easy to be confused. Deception - The vast majority of women who pretend vaginal orgasm to their men are faking it to, as Ti-Grace Atkinson says, "get the job". In a new best-selling Danish book, "I Accuse" (my own translation), Mette Ejlersen specifically deals with this common problem, which she calls the “sex comedy". This comedy has many causes. First or all, the man brings. a deal of pressure to bear on the woman, because he considers his ability as a lover at stake. So as not to offend his ego, the woman will comply with the prescribed role and go through simulated ecstasy. In some or the other Danish women mentioned, women who were left frigid were turned off to sex, and pretended vaginal orgasm to hurry up the sex act. Others admitted that they had faked vaginal orgasm to catch a man. In one case, the women pretended vaginal orgasm to get him to leave his first wife, who admitted being vaginally frigid. Later she was forced to continue the deception, since obviously she couldn't tell him to stimulate her clitorally. Many more women were simply afraid to establish their right to equal enjoyment, seeing the sexual act as being primarily for the man's benefit,*and any pleasure that the woman. got as an added extra. Other women, with just enough ego to reject the man's idea that they

The New Feminist/Oct. 70 Page ll needed psychiatric care, refused to admit their frigidity. They would not accept self-blame, but they didn't know how to solve the problem, not knowing the physiological facts about themselves, so they were left in a peculiar limbo. Again, perhaps one of the most infuriating and damaging results of this whole charade. has been that women who were perfectly healthy sexually were taught that they were not. So in addition to being sexually deprived, these women were told to blame themselves when they deserved no blame. Looking for a cure to a problem that has none can lead a woman on an endless path of self-hatred and insecurity. For she is told by her analyst that not even in her one role allowed in male society - the role of a woman -is she successful. She is put on the defensive, with phony data as evidence that she better try to be even more feminine, think more feminine, and reject her envy of men. That is, shuffle even harder, baby.

Why Men Maintain the Myth 1. Sexual Penetration is Preferred - The best.stimulant for the penis is the. woman's vagina. It supplied the necessary friction and lubrication. From a strictly technical point of view this position offers the best physical conditions, even though the man may try other positions for variation, 2. The Invisible Woman - One of the elements of male chauvinism is the refusal or inability to see women as total, separate human beings. Rather, men have chosen to define women only in terms of how they benefited men's Lives. Sexually, a woman was not seen as an individual wanting to share equally in the sexual act. any more than. she was seen as a person with independent desires when she did anything else in society. Thus, it was easy to make up what was convenient about women; for on top of that, society has been:a function of male interests, and women were not organized to form even a vocal opposition to the male experts. 3. The Penis as Epitome of Masculinity - Men define their lives greatly in terms of masculinity. It is a universal, as opposed to racial, ego boosting, which.is localized by the geography of racial. mixtures. The essence of male chauvinism is not the practical, economic services women supply. It is the psychological superiority. This kind of negative definition of self, rather than positive definition, based upon one’s own achievements and development, has of course chained the victim and the: oppressor both. But by far, the most brutalized,of the two is the victim. An analogy is racism, where the white racist compensates his feelings of unworthiness by creating an image of the black man (it is primarily a male struggle) as biologically inferior to him. Because of his

The New Feminist/Oct.70. Page l2 power in a white male power structure, the white man can socially enforce this. mythical: division. To the extent that men try to rationalize and justify male superiority through physical differentiation, masculinity may be symbolized by being the most muscular, the most hairy, the deepest voice, and the biggest penis. Women, on the other hand, are approved of (i.e. called feminine) if they are weak, petite, shave their legs, have high soft voices, and no penis. Since the clitoris is almost identical to the penis, one finds a great deal of evidence of men in various societies trying to either ignore the clitoris and emphasize the vagina (as did Freud) , or, as in some places in the Mideast, actually. performing clitoridectomy. Freud saw this ancient and still practiced. custom as a way of further "feminizing" the female by removing this cardinal vestige of her masculinity. It should be noted also that a big clitoris is considered ugly and masculine. Some cultures engage in the practice of pouring a chemioal on the clitoris to make it shrivel up into proper size. It seems clear to me that men in fact fear the clitoris as a threat to their masculinity. 4. Sexually. Expendable Male - Men fear that they will become sexually expendable if the clitoris is substituted for the vagina as the center of pleasure for women. Actually this has a great deal of validity if one considers only the anatomy. The position of the penis inside the vagina, while perfect for reproduction, does not necessarily stimulate an orgasm in women because the clitoris is located externally and higher up. Women must rely upon indirect stimulation in the “normal” position. Lesbian sexuality could make an excellent case, based upon anatomical data, for the extinction of the male organ. Albert Ellis says ‘something to the effect that a man without a penis can make a woman an excellent lover. Considering that the vagina is very desirable from a man's point of view purely on physical grounds, one begins to see the dilemma for men. And it forces us as well to discard many "physical" arguments explaining why women go to bed with men. What is left, it seems to me, are primarily psychological reasons why women select men at the exclusion of women as sexual partners. 5. Control of Women - One reason given to explain the Mideastern practice of clitoridectomy is that it will keep the women from straying. By removing the sexual organ capable of orgasm, it must be assumed that her sexual drive will diminish. Considering how men look upon their women as property, particularly in very backward nations, we should begin to consider a great deal more why it is not in the men's interest

the New Feminist/0ct./70. Page 13 to have women totally free sexually. The double standard, as practiced. for example in Latin America, is set up to keep the woman as total property of the husband, while he is free to have affairs as he wishes. 6. Lesbianism and Bisexuality - Aside from the strictly anatomical reasons why women might equally seek other women as lovers, there is a fear on men"s part that women will seek the company of other women on a full, human basis. The establishment of clitoral orgasm as fact would threaten the heterosexual institution. For it would indicate that sexual: pleasure was obtainable from either men or women, thus making heterosexuality not an absolute, but an option. It would thus open up the whole question of human sexual relationships beyond the |confines of the present male-female role system.

Books ‘Mentioned In This Essay Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, Alfred C. Kinsey, Pocketbooks. Female Sexuality, Marie Bonaparte, Grove Press Sex Without Guilt, Albert Ellis, Grove Press. Sexual Feelings: in Married Men and Women, G. Lombard Kelly, Pocketbooks., . I Accuse (Jeg Anklager), Mette Ejlersen, Chr. Erichsens Forlag (Danish}. The Sexually Adequate Female, Frank S. Caprio, Fawcett Gold Medal Books. Thinking About Women, Mary Ellman; Harcourt, Brace & World. Human Sexual Response, Masters and Johnson;.Little, Brown, ALSO see: The ABZ of Love, Inge and Sten Hegeler,. Alexicon Corp.

Copyright by Anne Koedt, 1970. All Rights Reserved.

(Note on the author of "The Myth.of the Vaginal Orgasm": Anne Koedt, a founder of the radical feminist movement in New York (New York Radical Women, The Feminists and currently New York Radical Feminists) is an editor of Second Year Notes and is now at work on a book about female sexuality to be published by Random House in 1971.)

| When' I:was She whom he can't satisfy aggressive Has to be a nympho. He round me repressive. All of us have penis envy When I faked subjection He had an erection. Where do. they get their info?

The New Feminist/Oct./70O. Page 14 NEW FEMINISTS - COMMUNICATIONS

The May issue advised that the New Feminists were entering a new phase of consciousness-raising. Small cells were formed, consisting of not more than ten persons and requiring personal involvement and an analysis of our common situation based on the concrete realities of our existence. Interested women attend an introductory meeting and participate in a cell for a minimum six-month period. In addition, interest groups and work committees have been organized. Members are active in the library, media, magazine and karate groups. A co-ordinating council, representing all cells, advises members of actions end inter-cell activity. The first Annual Meeting of New Feminists was held on Monday, September 28th followed by an all-day conference to clarify the cell structure. Cell reports brought out a variety of problems and opinions, but confirmed that the cell structure was "on the right track". Introductory meetings are held once monthly - the first Thursday ot each month. Next meetings will be on November Sth and on December 3rd. As New Feminist Headquarters will be moving shortly, telephone New Feminists (922-9283) for confirmation of time and place. The decision to publish The New Feminist six times annually rather than monthly resulted from a desire to ensure the magazine reflected a radical feminist position, that is, a critical view of women's position in society, why we are oppressed, and what we can start doing about it. New Feminists will certainly attack issues, create support actions to guarantee equality for women in today's world, (abortion, equal pay, day care) but we must not lose sight of investigating the deeper, more basic causes and effects of our subordinate position because of the male-female roles. More time between issues will permit deeper research into radical feminist theories.

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The New Feminist/Oct.70. Page 15